Politics
08:19, 04-Jan-2018
Trump scraps election fraud panel after states balk at data requests
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US President Donald Trump has disbanded a presidential commission charged with looking into allegations of electoral fraud during the 2016 election, citing a lack of cooperation from many states.
"Rather than engage in endless legal battles at taxpayer expense, today I signed an executive order to dissolve the commission, and have asked the Department of Homeland Security to review these issues and determine next courses of action," Trump said in a statement.
The panel, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, was established last May to look into voter fraud but met with resistance from many states.
Donald Trump and Mike Pence on election night in November 2016. /AP Photo
Donald Trump and Mike Pence on election night in November 2016. /AP Photo
A federal judge in Washington, DC, said in November that the commission was an advisory body that lacked legal authority to compel states to hand over data.
Trump, a Republican, has said that fraud may have accounted for his loss nationwide in the popular vote to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by nearly three million votes.
Most state officials who oversee elections and election law experts say that voter fraud is rare in the United States.
Source(s): Reuters